Measured-service system of telephone-exchanges.



No. 825,424. PATENTED JULY 10, 1906. 0. SGRIBNEB. MEASURED ssavmn SYSTEM OF TELEPHONE EXCHANGES.

APPLICATION FILED FEB. 6,1905.

2 SHEETS-SHEET 1.

J1 U4 l Q'c'ZW-ssea: lzwezzifars ZarkJZziraZmen No. 825,424. PATBNTED JULY 10, 1906. O. E. SGRIBNBR.

MEASURED SERVICE SYSTEM OF TELEPHONE BXGHANGES.

APPLICATION FILED R2333, 1905. V

2 SHEBTS-SHBET 2.

UNITED STATES PATENT OFFICE.

mitts s. sentence. OF Jsmceo. VERMONT, ASSIGNOR T WESTERN ELECTRIC COMPANY, ILLINOIS.

OF CHICAGO. ILLINOIS, A CORPORA'HON OF MEASURED-enemas svsrsm OF TELEPHONE-EXCHAFKIGEZSQ .lfz 'o. 825,424.

Original application flied" Fcbm sry 23, 1904, Serial No.

To allwhom it may concern:

Be it known that I, CHARLES E. SORIBNER,

a citizen of the United States, residing at Jericho in the county of Chittenden and Stete of Vermont, have invented a certain new and useful Im rovement in Measured- 7 Service Systems of elephone-Exchanges, of

I which the following is a full, clear, concise;

and exact description.

My invention relates to measured-service telephone+exchenge systems; and its object is in general to provide an improved cr sni- "zeticn of circuits and apparatus where "3* e record may be inade of esci?v call from e'subscriber's station which is answ red and the desired connectione'stablished as the eentrel fihe accompanying drawings illustrate s imeesered-service system constructed and so m'genized in accordance with my invention,

and I will describethe seine particularly by.

reference to said drawings, reserving fer the appended claims a statement of the parts, im rovements, or combinations considered :5 to e novel.

Inthe drawings, Figure 1 is a diagram illustratingby means of conventicnelsymbole "this apparatus and circuits-of e telephone line extending from a subscribers ste- .tion' to e central ofliee of a. telephene-exchanger -.-Fig.r 2 is a len'view of the service- :meten-wl ichisprovided at the subscribers .statiomwith the. conteining cese in section, rend.:Fig,;-3 is a vertical seetionalriew of the servickmetez' onaline 3 .3 of Fig. 2. v

ca l-he seine characters cf reference are used te designate the same parts wherever they are Referring to-Fi 1, the telephone line ex-' lee-tends in, two lim s er line conductors 4 5 from the snhseribers apparatus S tc the cen-" 'tral switchboard C, where it is provided with:

the usuelsprng-ieek terminals a a, 'Qfifl qeole .of theg centre battery bis connected he 5 earth, and the other or free pele is connected K to the iimb 4 ofthetele hone-line thronghtiie winding of the line-re cy c'aindthe contacts at the cut-.ofi relay 1. The other limb 5 of' 'the telephcne-linc is normally open at the 5o centrel ioflice. Thelma-relay c centreis a line si "cl-lamp c in a local circuit. A p01 tion- 0 the usual operator's tplug circuit by Specification of Letters Patent.

1 94,801. Divided and this application filed February 6, 1905;: Serial K0- 244,355. 7

'hattery and the tip of t e ping.

Patented July which connection is made with the line is illustrated. The tip and ring contectsvof the plug form the terminals of link conductors 6 7, respectively, which are brought irate-connection with the conductors 5 e respeetively, when the eperators plug 10 is. disses spring-jack of the tele hene iine. sit the same time the cut-oil re ej is excitee hyeur- 1 rentin at local circuit 8 1n" accordance with the uses! practice. The I eperstors superbeth the end s'fthcieof leading to the plug 7 with the free pole i cf a greunded generator Similarly the key? when actuated issdspk V ed to break the continuity of the conductors 6 7 sndto connect the end of; conductor? onlyto the fies 'pele of a grounded generator G, the conducter 6 heingsiinply o ened. V In 7 practice'fer systems where com-cc lecters as well ss'service meters are emylofied the free pole of one of generators will e pasitive whiie the free 15 01 the othcr'generatcr will hen tive;b1itthis\is not fer theogerg of the service-meter 7 e subscriber's station is equipped with thewt telephone transmitting endraceiv ing up sretus, withwe. telephonesswitch 7:.

' the circuitsfithere cf, endiin eddi- 59 3 1 3 providedtheservice-metcr'k, the

ar of which is skews in detailin fi igsfiflendg. Therefi'sternrccun timil ll" .gf'; eservice-metere own-,whicliis e ty e.

'whichl pr er to cm is in carrymg ipixtmy invention; grrcvidegwith edrivingretchet wheel rywfi G6 in beectflatcdhy;

e perv! qrfie irie: lithe armature m".:-of*the magnet m. 'The'fermuremfmsyhctermed w attractive ,movensen r tbwnrd "the; magnetcore is divided into two steps or stages. A contact-spring .s' is arranged to be engaged by the armaturcwhen the same is partia ly attracted, so that the further attractive movement of the armature will be opposed by the tension of said spring. The initlal attractive movement may be opposed simply by the weight o' tliearmature. The pawl 0 is arranged in engage the ratchet-wheel 1" only during the 'linal attractive movement of the armature, the initial movement being complctcd without advancing the counting-train. A manual switch-key t, which may control the connection of the service-meter magnet, is associated with said magnet. This sw1tchkey is ada ted to be set manually, but is'arranged to lie released in the initial attractive movement of the armature m simultaneously with or shortly after the engagement of the armature with the contact-s ring 8. The manual switch may consist o a plunger t, arranged to bo-operated manuall againstthc tension of a coil-spring t and tie armature m may carry a detent m which is ad opted to engage a notch or offset of the plunger to latch the same in its actuated position.

awl m normally rests u on a piece of insuliiting material t carried y the plunger; but when the plunger'is depressed the pawl m comes into electrical contact with the metallic portion thereof at the notch or ollset.

The contact-thus made serves to-cornplete the connection of a branch 9 from conductor 4 to ground, said branch including the ma net m, the plunger t being connected witi said conductor and the magnet being connected between the armature m and ground. The armature m in its initial attractive movement makes contact with the spring 8, which is connected with the other limb 5 of the telephone-line and atlthe same time or shortly after the switch-key is released, so thatthe connection of the magnet is thus transferred from one line conductor 4 to the other line conductor 5. If the armature goes onand takes the second step to completeits attractive movement, the counting-' train I also will be advanced b the pawl engaging the ratchet-wheel r. he gnagnet m 1s wound to respond to currents from the generators G Gr, but is unresponsive to current from the batter b of lower electrometive force. It shou d be stated that while for convenience of illustration two batteries (marked 1)) are shownin the drawin s it is understood, of course that these maybe one and the same battery, in accordance with the usual practice.

The service-meter above described forms no part of the present application, but coustitutes the sub oot-matter of my application, Serial No. 194,80l, 'lilod'l eln'uary 23, 1904, of which this application is a division.

The operation of the system is very similar to the operation of the system where coin- The collectors are employedsuch, for example, as the system of Patent No. 665,874, issued January 15, 1901, to A. M. Bullard. Indeed, the working of the system, from the centralollice operator's standpoint, is identical.

In exchanges where the number of calls from a given station determine the amount to be paid by the subscriber for telephone service the system may be organized upon either of two plans: the subscriber ma pay for each call as he makes it by actual y dc positin a coin in the coin-collector, or in place o i the coin-collector each call may be recorded upon a register or meter and payment made in a lump sum at the end of a given time for the number of calls recorded. The subscriber should of course-be char ed for service only when the connection ca led for is actually obtained, and in the s stem of the Bullard patent before referre to the coin-collector receives-the coinprovisionally, and the operator may'b pressing the proper one of two keys bring a out the actuation of the mechanism to return the coin to the subscriber or deposit it in the cash-box, according to the circumstances.

It is sometimes desirable that an exchange be equipped partially with call-recording devices and partially with coin-collectors, as subscribers ma prefer. It may be thata party-line-will ave some of its substations equipped with coin-collectors, while other substations of the same line will have servicemeters instead. Lines of such differing character are frequently grouped togetherindiscriminate] at the central-ofiice switchboard, and t e o erator, who must do the work of establishln and taking down connection almostmec'lanically, should not be burdened with the mental effort of distinguishin r between, lines having d iflerent classes of toll evices. It is an especial advantage of the service-meter apparatus ofthe present invention that it may be used in systems where coin-collectors are also employed, such as the system of the Bullard patent, without re uiring any different apparatus at the cons tra office or any different action by the operator.

The call is transmitted to the central oflice in the Bullard system by the suhscriber'depositing a coin in the toll-box. In the present system the call is transmitted by the subscriber actuating his manual switch-key t. The effect in either case is to cause the display of a line-signal at the central .ollice, to whlchthe operator responds by plugging into the sprin week of the calling-line. The oporation oi the toll device is then determined by two keys in the operators plug-circuit. I the desired connection is obtained, the charge-key is depressed, which in the case of the coin-collector causes the coin to be deposited in the cash-box and ill'tlli! case of the service-meter causes the call to be re:

" some:

corded upon a register, If for any reason "no charge is to be made, as where the desired case of the coin-collector causes the coin to the keys f g, accordi "a has advanced ,the registering-train.

be returned to the subscriber and in case of the service-meter causes the mechanism to be restored without actuatin the register.

To describe the operation the s stern of this invention more in detail it wil be seen that depressing the switch-key t atthe subscribers station will complete a branch circuit 9 to earth from limb 4 of the telephoneline. A circuit is thus completed from the central battery 12, three, h the line-relay c and over conductors 4 an 9, to earth, whereby the line-relay is excited and causes the display of the line signal-lamp c. The magnet m of the service-meter, although included in this circuit, does not res 0nd to current a from -the batte b. The switch-key i! being once depressed is latched inits actuated'go sition by the pawl m, carried by the ariseture m of the ma et. The operator answers the call by p ugging into the springjack a of the line, as usual, and at the roper time, which is referably after "the isconnected sign will bring about a complete attractive movement of the armature m instead of the mere half step and the registering-train Z will bet advanced to record the connection, the switch t beingalso'released. The control of keys 3; over the subscribers service-meter isas' vfo lows: The key 9 a plies current frorn gen erator'G tothe hm 4 of the line, and current flows to earth through the branch 9, containing the magnetv m, said 'bran'ch being 7 closed by the contact between the owl m and the plunger t of the switch, T e mag not will therefore be excited; but the' ture in takin the first etc in its; attractire movement withdraws the etent m from enagenient with the offset unthe plunger, Wlmreb y the lung'er is released and returned to its name position by spring t, the connection of the magnetwith conductor fibemg thus broken. 111c armature is new in cgntact with spring and the connection of t e side o f-th'etelephone-line but current been ajiplied bytkey g to the limb a only the magnet m is nolo rener ed, but ts its amiaturemto op ba before t "e owl thekey f isgdepi'essed, "current from the gen- 1! but not actuat-.

et m-i's thus transferred to the 'othei' crater G is aplilalied to both conductors 4 5, so that, althoug the first step in the movement of the magnet-armature breaks the connection of the magnet with conductor {4, the Inagnetsrill receive current from conductor 5 by we 7 of contact-spring s. Under these coiid itions 'the armature m will corn lete its sts acsscstcvement and advance t e registering trainiby means of the awl o and the ratchet-wheel 1'. It will time c seen that the ma at is adapted to be connected progressire y with different actuating circuits by switching-mechanism controlled 0 its own armature and that a movement oi said armature through one or more steps may be brought about by applying current to one or more of said actuat1ng-circuits I claim i v 1, The combination with an electromagnct and an armature therefor, of two branch circuits for said magnet, a switch adapted to connect th'magnet with one branch, switch 7 mechanism "adagted in a na'rtial attractive movementbf saidarniature to transfer the connection of the magnet to the second branch, and means at a distant r luoint for aplying current to the first-brain: alone, or to .oth ranches, whereby the extent of move ment ofs'aidarmature 1S determined.

2. 'lhe combination with a telephone-line extending a substatibn'to a central office, of a service-meter at the substation, an electromagnet therefor, a plurality of circuits for said magnetfa source of current at the central oficegnieans at the central oflicej for we connecting said source .of current with one or n ore of said. circuits, switch mechanism 7 adapted to connect said actuating-circuits piogressivelywith the electromagnet, and an arinajtuie'jor said magnet controlling said 1 5 i w: nechanism, "3, 111 an electromagnetic ste by-step derice, the combination with one ectrcm'agnet, of a lurality' of actuating-circuits therefor,

smite mechanism'adapted progressively to 11 gaid sctuating-circults with the electromagnet, an armature for said electromagnet controlling said switch mechanism, a

source of current', means adapted to apply said source to one oil-edit to cause a, partial. I15

attractive movement of said armature, and means for applying said'source to said plu rality of circuits to cause increased attractire movement'ofsaid armature.

4. The combination with a telephone-line no,

extending-in two iimbs 4, 5, from a substationto a central ofice, eta sourceof'current a signal instrument normall' connected 'aftlm'entral oflice with one lim .4,an elec= tromagnetic service rneter at the suhstation i =5 having a manual switch-key associated therewith ads ted tooompletc ascircuit for said scarce osaid limb 4;;to'

1 cause thefiieration ofjsai signal instrument, a detent apted to latch said switch-key in 9 its actuated position, said detent being moved to release said switch-key in .the response of the service-meter i'nagnet, and means coin trolled at the central office for exciting said service-meter magnet.

5. The coi'nbination with a telephone-line extending in two limbs 4, 5, from a substation to a central office, of a service-meter at the substation comprising a registering-train, an electromagnet and an armature therefor having a pawl adapted to advance said register ing-train by a complete attractive movement of said armature, the initial attractive movement being independent of said registeringtrain, a manually-closed switch controlling a circuit through the service-meter magnet, including one limb a of the line, said cirruii including a source of current and a signal i11 strument, a switch-contact closed in the initial movement of said armature adapted to control a circuit through said magnet from the other limb 5 of the telephone-line, a la tch for the manual switch released in the initial movement of said armature, and means at the central office for applying current suitable for actuating said magnet from a grounded. source to the limb 4 or to both limbs of the line, substantially as and for the purpose specified.

6. The combination with a telephone-circuit having two limbs 4, 5, and an elmtiir magnetic service-meter comprising an elsetromagnet, a two-step armature therefor, and a registering-train actuated in the final step or movement of said armature, a manual switch-key adapted when actuated to connect the service-meter magnet with the limb 4 of the tele hone-circuit, a relay-contact closed by sai armature in the initial move-- ment thereof, adapted to connect the magnet with the other limb 5 of the circuit, a detent ada ted to latch said switch-key in its ac tuate position, said detent being moved to release said key by the initial movement of said armature, a source of current adapted to ex cite said magnet, and switching means for applying said current alternately to the limb 4 or to both limbs 4, 5, substantially as and for the purpose described.

7. The combination with a telephone'line extending from a substation to a central of lice, of; a battery at the central office connected with one limb of said line, the other limb being open, a signal-controlling magnet inthe path of current from said source, a serviceqneter at the substation, a magnet therefor included in a ground branch from the armature thereof, a contact for said magnet connected with the open limb of the llllu, and adapted to be engaged by said armature when partially attracted, a key connected with the battery side ot' the line adapted when operated to complete a circuit from said bat-- tery including the signalrontrolling magnet and the,servicemicter magnet, said last'mentioned magnet l'iei'ng unresponsive to current lroin said battery, a detour carried by the armature of said magnet adapted to hold said switch-key in its operative position, link conductors at the central oilice, a connection switcl' ffor uniting the same with the line, a scnrccof special current, and a key adapted when actuauzd to connect said source with both link conductors, and thereby apply current to beth limbs of the line: whereby the service--nn ter magnet energized to efi'ect a registration, and the said detent is with drawn to release said switch-key.

S. In a service-meter the combination with an eleetromagnet, of an armature therefor, two actualitingwircuits for said magnet. means for connecting said magnet with, one of said circuits to set the meter, a source of current, means for applying current from said source to said circuit to disconnect the magnet and reset the meter without its being operated, switching 'll1Q- han'etn adapted in apartial attr ive morenuut of said armature to trans ,r the connection of the magnet to said second circuit, and means for apply ing current to both circuits to effect a rcgcl tion of the meter.

In Witness whereof I hereunto subscribe my name this 20th day of December, A. D.

Vl itnesses W. S. Duncan, E. F. BEAUBIEN. 

